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We use the Tesla Model 3 and only the Tesla Model 3 for family road trips. The biggest problem is actually that the car is a little bit small for a whole family
by djao 4y ago
We use the Tesla Model 3 and only the Tesla Model 3 for family road trips. The biggest problem is actually that the car is a little bit small for a whole family. While the car does have a lot of trunk space for its size, it's still a small car by American standards. Charging is a complete non-issue. We don't do insane stuff like drive 900 miles in a day. We wouldn't do that even if we were driving a gasoline car. We go a leisurely 400 to 500 miles in a day. This distance requires only one mid-day charging session, which we use for eating out. It takes a little planning, but honestly not much. The in-car navigation system automatically tells you all your charging options along your route, when you'll get there, how long you need to charge at each stop, and how much to charge up to.
Meanwhile, the autonomous driving features are a huge help on the highway. Whatever you think about autonomous driving in the city, on the highway it's fairly solid and much less tiring than manual driving.
All of the above applies only to Teslas. I would never attempt a drive away from home in a non-Tesla EV.
- dainiusse 4y agoMust add - my comment was about Europe. Finding a charger on your way would be a challenge to begin with
- vegardx 4y agoIt really isn't, and I don't understand how you can say this so confidently when you clearly don't know. Even in eastern parts of Europe you will find chargers in even the most remote places. I know, because I've tried it. In Scandinavia you'll be closer to a fast charger than a gas station at any given moment. You can verify all of this by just looking at websites like PlugShare: https://www.plugshare.com https://www.plugshare.com
- dainiusse 4y agoDon't want to argue, but open up and travel (even with a Tesla) from Warsaw to Rovaniemi and further in a -20 celsius temperatures. Baltic states don't even have official place to repair Tesla
- vegardx 4y agoI don't really see where the issue would be? It seems to be plenty of chargers on the way, you can probably do L2 charging on the ferry from Tallin to Helsinki if you wanted to make it even more optimized. My favorite route planning app Elton says total travel time of 24 hours, 1927km, 8 charging sessions on 250-350kW fast chargers in winter conditions with an added 10% extra consumption on top of that. Total time spent charging 2,5 hours. You don't need to use a Tesla service senter to fix your car, in the unfortunate event that it breaks down.
- dainiusse 4y agoI see plenty of problems - for example you've got 1 supercharger in Lithuania - if you don't want to spend hours around charging station - you're forced to go that single route which doesn't work doing road trips
- vegardx 4y agoI don't get it. There are plenty of 50kW chargers and up all over Lithuania. Just look at PlugShare.com. You won't spend hours, you can charge a Tesla Model 3 from 20% to 80% in like 45 minutes at a 50kW charger. Ideal? No. Problematic? Hardly.
- dreamcompiler 4y agoCompletely agree. We road trip only in our Model Y. Tesla's supercharging network is superb and the chargers almost always work because if they fail they phone home with a failure message and Tesla's roving band of maintenance technicians fixes them quickly. (I know this because I had a chat with a Tesla technician while I was charging at a supercharger.)
- FullyFunctional 4y agoYes it’s exactly my experience though 10+ years (MX + MS). I really want other EVs to be an option, but the charging network is laughable (cryable) in comparison to Tesla’s.